A cargo aircraft skids off a Hong Kong runway into the sea, killing 2
airport workers
[October 20, 2025]
By CHAN HO-HIM and KANIS LEUNG
HONG KONG (AP) — A cargo aircraft skidded off a Hong Kong runway and
collided with a security patrol car before both fell into the sea early
Monday, killing the two people in the car, authorities said. The plane's
four crew members were unhurt.
The Boeing 747, flown by Turkey-based ACT Airlines, was landing at Hong
Kong International Airport around 3:50 a.m. on arrival from Dubai,
United Arab Emirates. The aircraft was being operated under lease by
Emirates, a long-haul carrier based in Dubai.
The captains did not seek help before landing and had taxied about
halfway down the runway before skidding off it to the left, Steven Yiu,
the airport authority’s executive director in airport operations, said
during a press conference.
“The patrol car absolutely did not rush onto the runway. It was the
plane that went off the runway and crashed into the patrol car outside
the fence,” he said.
When rescue crews arrived, the plane was broken into two parts, floating
in the sea, and the four crew members were waiting to be rescued at its
open door, said Yiu Men-yeung, a fire services official.
The four crew members had no apparent injuries, said Tong Sze-ho, acting
senior assistant chief ambulance officer of the fire services
department.
Rescuers dove into the sea and found the two security workers trapped in
the car after a 40-minute search, Yiu Men-yeung said.
Local television images at midmorning showed the aircraft partially
submerged just off the edge of the airport’s sea wall. The aircraft’s
front half and cockpit were visible above water but the tail end
appearing to have broken off. Two boats, possibly with search and rescue
personnel, were near the aircraft.
The crash occurred on the north runway of Hong Kong’s airport, one of
Asia’s busiest. That runway remained closed, while the two other runways
at the airport continue to operate. Steven Yiu said flights at the
airport would be unaffected.
Weather was suitable at the time the plane landed and the cause of the
crash was being investigated, he said.
The Air Accident Investigation Authority classified the case as an
accident, with the investigation to look into multiple factors,
including the flight’s system, operation and maintenance.
The cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder were being
sought.
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A view of the cargo aircraft that skidded off a Hong Kong runway on
Monday, Oct. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)
Emirates said the Boeing 747 freighter flying as EK9788 was wet
leased and operated by ACT Airlines. In wet leases, the company
supplying the plane also provides the crew, maintenance and
insurance. Emirates said there was no cargo on board.
The aircraft was 32 years old, according to Flightradar24.
Hong Kong International Airport was built on reclaimed land by
merging two smaller islands north of Hong Kong's Lantau Island in
the South China Sea, at the mouth of the Pearl River. The edge of
the north runway lies only a few hundred meters (yards) from the
water, while the other two runways are even closer.
Emirates, the Dubai-based long haul carrier, is known for its
passenger flights coming out of Dubai International Airport, the
world’s busiest for international travel.
However, it also operates a thriving cargo business out of Al
Maktoum International Airport at Dubai World Central, the
sheikhdom’s second airport where it plans a $35 billion improvement
over the coming decade. The ACT Airlines’ flight had taken off from
Al Maktoum, known as DWC.
Emirates, owned by a sovereign wealth fund in the city-state, noted
in its most-recent annual report that it had added two wet-leased
Boeing 747s “to serve surging customer demand.” Emirates has some
260 aircraft in its fleet, the majority either Boeing 777s or
double-decker Airbus A380s.
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Associated Press writers Simina Mistreanu in Taipei, Taiwan, and Jon
Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.
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